The Umstead Update: Blowing in the Wind

So our little Lexa now has a healthy respect and fear of fire. Why, you ask? Well, last Sunday the governor declared Virginia in a State of Emergency due to an outbreak of wildfires and Lexa and Darcy were actually caught in one! Actually it is not as bad as it sounds, but it was very scary. We were driving up the road, getting ready to meet our friend Daunetta for dinner, and we saw smoke on the other side of the road. There was already a fire truck on the scene and no fire was visible, so it was assumed (or at least Darcy assumed) that the fire was under control. All traffic had been stopped on the other side of the road, but our side was moving along just fine until the smoke suddenly grew and one of those 55 mile an hour gusts of wind came by and blew a tower of fire up in the air and across four lanes and a median and came one lane from our van! It was a beautiful, warm day so we had the windows cracked and Darcy was unable to get the windows up fast enough so Darcy, Lexa, and the van were slightly burned by hot ashes. Everyone is fine and there are no marks to show except for the small burn in the back seat of the van. We just thank God that it was not worse. Lexa and Darcy continued on to dinner with Daunetta, but the ride home took about 20 min longer because we had to weave our way around the fire. The fire burned 75 acres, which was one of the smaller fires that day. Who knew there were wild fires in Virginia?

Other than our adventure with fire, the past week and 1/2 have been fairly calm and relaxing with a lot of playing and even some baking (Lexa's latest obsession is brownies). Last Thursday Lexa and Darcy went to the Surratt home after work/daycare for a delicious turkey roast dinner and a cousin fix (if it were up to Lexa and Riley, they would play together every day). This past Saturday Riley, Kyle and Tracy came over for some more playtime (see the Surratt Blog for more pictures, link is on the right). Saturday night Mike, Darcy, and Lexa went to Christy and Tim's for a yummy rib dinner and to see Christy's rapidly growing baby belly. Oh, and Christy decided to teach Lexa a new trick, see the picture below.

Today was Lexa's Valentine's Party at Ms. Gail's and she made out like it was Christmas time. Balls, candy, toys, candy, cookies, candy and did we mention candy? Lexa is on a pretty big sugar high right now.

Now on the the best part, pictures.